Tooth bar mounting

ABSTRACT

A mounting for a tooth bar to a mounting surface of a thumb sub-assembly, the mounting including one or more inwardly narrowing slots located adjacent the mounting surface and into which a part of a mounting portion of the tooth bar can be wedgingly engaged, there being fixing means for fixing the tooth bar into engagement with the mounting surface following the mounting portion being wedgingly engaged.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to material handling equipment such as excavators, backhoes, and clamping and grappling equipment, and the like. More particularly it relates to a mounting for a tooth bar on a thumb assembly for use with such equipment.

BACKGROUND

The use of a thumb, with attached tooth bar, on excavator machinery is well known. Typically the thumb is used in conjunction with the excavator bucket so as to make the bucket more effective in picking up material. For example in demolition sites a thumb is a particularly useful means of grabbing material which would otherwise be difficult to be picked up solely by a bucket.

The thumb is typically pivotally mounted to the excavator arm and is controllable, by an hydraulic ram. The thumb has a tooth bar attached to its distal outer end, this tooth bar generally being configured to suit the particular type of bucket with which it is to be used. For example, the tooth bar may have four or six teeth depending on the number of teeth mounted to the edge of the bucket.

Because of the differing end user requirements it is often the case that the manufacturer of the thumb will manufacturer thumb assemblies particularly suited for the end application.

Consequently there is always a lead time between an end user ordering a thumb and it actually being delivered from the manufacturer.

Accordingly there is a need for a more modular system whereby the manufacturer can have a standard thumb sub-assembly and attach to this a suitable pre-manufactured tooth bar depending on the end users requirements.

Typically the tooth bar may be welded to the thumb, but with a more modular system it is more practical to have bolt on tooth bars. Bolt on tooth bars are already known, however those that are known generally suffer from draw backs - the main one being that they tend to work loose as a consequence of the forces, and sometimes extreme treatment, which the thumb experiences during normal use.

It is consequently an object of the present invention to provide a mounting for a tooth bar on a thumb which at least goes some way to overcoming the problem of loosening of the tooth bar during operation of the thumb, alternatively it is an object to at least provide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Broadly according to one aspect of the invention there is provided a mounting for a tooth bar to a mounting surface of a thumb sub-assembly, the mounting including one or more inwardly narrowing slots located adjacent the mounting surface and into which a part of the mounting portion of the tooth bar can be wedgingly engaged, there being means for fixing the tooth bar into engagement with the mounting surface following the mounting portion being wedgingly engaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following more detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded perspective view of the components of a thumb sub-assembly and associated tooth bar which is mountable to the sub-assembly by the mounting according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the thumb showing the tooth bar mounted to the thumb subassembly,

FIG. 3 illustrates a side elevation view of the thumb when mounted to an excavator arm, and

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 3 but with the thumb inter-engaging with the bucket as shown in dotted detail in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the drawings FIGS. 1 and 2 show a tooth bar of a “universal” type. By way of further illustration, however, FIGS. 3 and 4 show a tooth bar having four teeth configured to inter-engage with the five teeth on the cutting edge of the excavator bucket. Other configurations of tooth bar can be mounted to the thumb assembly using the mounting of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the component parts of the thumb. This includes a thumb subassembly 10 and tooth bar 11. The subassembly 10 has a mounting plate 12 which forms a mounting surface 12a against which a plate 13 of the tooth bar 11 can engage and be bolted thereto by a series of bolts and associated nuts 14.

The subassembly 10 includes a pair of side plates 15 which, in accordance with conventional construction, include along one edge thereof serrations or teeth 15. At the ends of the side plates 15 opposite to mounting plate 12 are a pair of aligned openings 17. Bushes 18 are provided for the openings 17. Through the bushes 18 is engaged a pin 19 by which, together with selected spacers 20, the subassembly 10 can be typically attached to the excavator arm E. To one end of the pin 19 is attached a radial extending plate 21 to which a retainer bar 22 is fitted.

Between the side plates 15 is a mounting plate 23 which, as more clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, carries flanges 24 having openings therein which align with openings in the side plates 15 and through which a thumb pin 25 can be engaged. This provides a mounting for the bush 26 of the piston rod of hydraulic ram 27. The body of the hydraulic ram 27 has a bush 28 which is engaged in bracket 29 via pin 30.

Attached to the mounting plate 13 of the tooth bar 11 is the teeth assembly 31. This can include a plurality of teeth 32 (see FIG. 4) or in the more universal fitting of FIGS. 1 and 2 a toothed or serrated plate 33.

The upper edge of the mounting plate 13 is preferably beveled as indicated by numeral 34. The mounting plate 13 further includes a series, of openings which align with elongate openings 35 in the mounting plate 12 of the subassembly 10. The bolts 14 pass through these aligned openings and with the associated nuts bolt the mounting plates 12 and 13 together.

The mounting according to the present invention includes a plurality of flanges 36 which, in the illustrated form, are a pair of parallel spaced apart flanges mounted to the mounting plate 23. These flanges 36 are, in the illustrated form of the construction, located either side of an opening 37 formed in the mounting plate 23.

Each of the mounting flanges 36 have a finger portion 37 which extends over the mounting surface of the mounting plate 12. These fingers 37 include an edge surface 38 which faces towards the mounting surface 12 a and is configured such that the distance between the edge 38 and the mounting surface 12 a decreases inwardly from the distal ends of finger 37. The result is a narrowing slot into which the beveled edge 34 can be engaged when the mounting plate 13 is bought into engagement with mounting plate 12. There is thus a wedging action between the edge 38/mounting surface 12 a and the mounting plate 13 of the tooth bar 11.

Accordingly when the tooth bar 11 is mounted to the subassembly 10 the edge 34 is introduced between the edge surfaces 38 of the fingers 37 and the mounting surface 12 a. The tooth bar 11 is then driven into hard engagement with the fingers 37 so that the edge 34 is firmly wedged into position. This is shown in more detail in the enlarged part view in FIG. 3. The bolts 14 are then introduced through the aligned openings 35 and the openings in the mounting plate 13 and the tooth bar thereby bolted onto the subassembly 10. The elongate nature of the openings 35 ensure that the mounting plates 12 and 13 can be bolted together irrespective of the final position of the edge 34 between the fingers 37 and mounting plate 12.

If, during use, the tooth bar 11 loosens it is simply a matter of loosening off the nuts/bolts 14 followed by a driving force applied to the tooth bar 11 so as to force the edge 34 further into wedging engagement between the mounting surface 12 a and the edge surfaces 38 and retightening the nuts on the bolts.

The present invention thus provides a mounting arrangement for a tooth bar such that the tooth bar 11 can be readily fitted onto the subassembly 10 and held firmly in place. The invention therefore lessens the likelihood of the tooth bar 11 working loose. Even though the forces to which the tooth bar will be subjected during normal use may still cause the tooth bar to loosen, the likelihood is less than with conventional mounting arrangements. If loosening does occur it is a matter of retightening in a simple and straightforward manner.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure applies to an hydraulically controllable thumb. The invention is also applicable to a fixed/rigid thumb (i.e. one which is not hydraulically operable) where the clamping action with the fixed/rigid thumb is achieved by the crowd action of the bucket. 

1. A mounting for a tooth bar to a mounting surface of a thumb sub-assembly, the mounting including one or more inwardly narrowing slots located adjacent the mounting surface and into which a part of a mounting portion of the tooth bar can be wedgingly engaged, there being fixing means for fixing the tooth bar into engagement with the mounting surface following the mounting portion being wedgingly engaged.
 2. A mounting according to claim 1 wherein the tooth bar is of a “universal” type.
 3. A mounting according to claim 1 wherein the tooth bar has four teeth configured to inter-engage with five teeth on a cutting edge of an excavator bucket.
 4. A mounting according to claim 1 wherein the sub-assembly has a mounting plate which forms the mounting surface.
 5. A mounting according to claim 4 wherein the tooth bar includes a plate whereby the tooth bar can engage and be bolted to the sub-assembly mounting plate by a series of bolts and associated nuts.
 6. A mounting according to claim 4 wherein the sub-assembly includes a pair of side plates which, in accordance with conventional construction, include along one edge thereof serrations or teeth.
 7. A mounting according to claim 6 wherein at the ends of the side plates, opposite to the mounting plate, are a pair of aligned openings whereby the sub-assembly can be attached to an excavator arm.
 8. A mounting according to claim 4 wherein the mounting plate of the tooth bar mounts a tooth assembly.
 9. A mounting according to claim 8 wherein the tooth assembly includes a plurality of teeth.
 10. A mounting according to claim 8 wherein the tooth assembly includes a toothed or serrated plate.
 11. A mounting according to claim 1 wherein the upper edge of the tooth bar mounting plate is beveled.
 12. A mounting according to claim 11 wherein the tooth bar mounting plate further includes a series of openings which align with elongate openings in the mounting plate of the subassembly through which, when aligned, bolts pass and whereby, with associated nuts, bolt the plates together.
 13. A mounting according to claim 12 further including a plurality of flanges, each having a finger portion which extends over the mounting surface of the mounting plate wherein each finger portion includes an edge surface which faces towards the mounting surface and is configured such that the distance between the edge surface and the mounting surface decreases inwardly from the distal ends of finger portion resulting in a narrowing slot into which the beveled edge of the tooth bar mounting plate can be engaged.
 14. A mounting according to claim 1 for use with a hydraulically controllable thumb.
 15. A mounting according to claim 1 for use with a fixed/rigid thumb where the clamping action with the fixed/rigid thumb is achieved by the crowd action of the bucket.
 16. (canceled) 